


5 Things I Hate About You

by doujinbag



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Confessions, Fights, I tried my best, M/M, but look where we are, cigarette use, i don't even ship erejean too much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-13
Updated: 2014-11-13
Packaged: 2018-02-25 07:10:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2612879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doujinbag/pseuds/doujinbag
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren Jaeger has his reasons for hating Jean Kirschtein. But maybe this time he took it too far. He didn't mean to hurt him. He didn't want that at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	5 Things I Hate About You

**Author's Note:**

> I saw something on Tumblr from the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" and that's what inspired this. So yeah.

Jean Kirschtein is the most agitating, vile, cocky, arrogant, stupid, no-good asshole I have ever met. And yet, despite Mikasa’s advice not to, I continue to talk to him. Which only leads to arguing. Which usually ends with a bloody nose or two and Mikasa having to drag me away by my shirt collar.

Which, is exactly why I’ve decided to make my personal list of things I absolutely hate about Jean Kirschtein.

_Number one: he always hits on my sister. And it makes me ~~jealous~~ uncomfortable._

Since eighth grade, when Jean first moved to our school district, his crush on Mikasa has been anything but subtle. Yet, after three and a half years of her turning him down, he still can’t get the memo. I’m surprised Mikasa hasn’t strangled him with her scarf by now. ~~But I promise, it’s not like I’m jealous of her or something.~~

It’s a Tuesday afternoon when Mikasa and I are walking home from school and suddenly, I hear Kirschtein’s godforsaken voice echo behind me. “Ay, Jaeger!” he calls, and my fist automatically clenches in response.

“Just ignore him,” Mikasa says through her teeth. She starts to walk slightly faster in hopes that I’ll follow. I don’t.

“Jaeger, I’m talkin’ to you!” Jean yells, closer now.

“Ah, yeah,” I say, turning around to face him, “I was wondering where the hell that annoying sound was coming from.”

“You never know when to shut your mouth, do you?” he sneers, sauntering towards me.

“Jesus, you sound like you should be my _mother,”_ I groan.

“Oh, yeah? I learned it from her in bed last night.”

“ _What_ did you just say?”

“Yeah, your mom’s pretty hot. Oh, wait- sorry. That must’ve been someone else, never mind me. Silly mistake. Can’t fuck a corpse, that’s sick.”

“Don’t you _fucking_ talk about my mom!” I shout, shoving him to the ground.

“Eren, don’t!” Mikasa pleads, tugging on my arm.

“Just hold my bag,” I demand, slinging my backpack off my shoulder and tossing it in her direction. “Fucking asshole!” I yell, pouncing on top of Jean. We wrestle around on the ground for a bit, me luckily dodging all his punches. Jean himself isn’t so lucky, however. My fist meets his jaw twice until he grabs me by the wrist and attempts to throw me off of him, only for me to jump right back on him.

“Get off of me!” he growls, trying to kick me off.

“You better fucking apologize!” I screech. “Apologize right fucking now!”

“It was a goddamn _joke!”_ he tries to defend. “It’s not a dick, you’re not supposed to take it so hard!”

“You don’t fucking joke about my mom!” I say. “ _Don’t!”_

“ _Eren!”_ Mikasa says impatiently from behind me.

“I _hate_ you, Jean,” I say, knocking his shoulder with my fist so hard that I hear it pop. “The next time you so much as look my way, I’ll break your goddamn neck,” I threaten. I finally stand up and he holds his hand to his jaw in pain, only to find that his shoulder feels like absolute hell.

“That was _uncalled for,”_ Mikasa whispers, pulling me hurriedly down the street. “What the _hell_ were you thinking?!”

“He- he f-fucking–“

“I understand that what he said about Mom was dickish,” she sighs. “But that’s no reason to go and half-kill him.”

“What, do you _like_ him?” I accuse, my eyes burning.

“No,” she says calmly. “But he’s a human being. I’m not gonna let you treat him like a dog.”

“Oh, please.” I cross my arms, frowning angrily. “I’d treat a dog much better than him.”

“Eren!” Mikasa exclaims in shock. “What is _wrong_ with you?” She pulls her scarf up around her mouth and speedwalks ahead of me. I know I’ve pissed her off for sure this time.

Just as I realize I forgot my backpack at the site of our fistfight, I feel something slam into my back, knocking me to the ground. My backpack. I look back just in time to see Jean running off in the other direction, his head hanging low and his hands in his jacket pockets.

_Number two: how fucking irritating it is when he sulks like that. ~~I feel bad but I’m going to ignore it because if I don’t then that’s admitting I like him or something, right?~~_

At home later, Mikasa’s still pissed at me, so I sit quietly in my room surfing the Internet. After YouTube bores me and I see that there’s nothing eventful going on on Twitter, I give in and check my Facebook, something I rarely like to do nowadays. I scroll past some selfies and a relationship status change before I see a status update made by Jean. I don’t know why I’m even friends with him on here, let alone why I want to see his status, but I read it anyways.

**Jean Kirschtein- 1h ago  
not really sure why I even try anymore.**

I roll my eyes and scoff. Leave it to Jean to say something so cryptic just to gain attention. After a few silent minutes, I suddenly realize that through the thin walls, I can hear Mikasa talking on her phone, speaking as if she’s trying to calm someone down. I leave my room and press my ear to her door, and I can hear some of what she’s saying now.

“…shh, shh, hey, it’s okay. I know, I know… Hey, listen, I don’t hate you, okay? I can’t exactly speak for Eren, but I know for sure that he wouldn’t want you to _die…”_

I barge into her room and blurt out, “Who are you talking to?”

Mikasa stares at me and stands up, walking over and shoving me out of her room with her phone pressed tightly to her ear. In the few seconds that I’m close to her, I can hear someone crying hysterically on the other end of the line.

The voice sounds like Jean’s.

Mikasa slams the door in my face and I’m left with a sickening feeling in my stomach, suddenly realizing that I’ve outdone myself. I, Eren Jaeger, have made Jean Kirschtein feel like literal shit. I’ve royally fucked up this time.

 _Number three: knowing he’s upset makes it impossible to_ not _feel guilty._

For the next week, I don’t see Jean. And Mikasa chooses to talk to him over me. I want to blame her, to be mad at both of them, but something inside me lets me know I just _can’t._ ~~And it’s the same damn voice telling me that I feel something for Jean.~~

However, the next Wednesday, I see him. Not with Mikasa, not with Marco, not with _any_ of his friends. All alone. Quietly, I watch as he leans against the old part of the school building, the part that nobody hangs around much. Hidden by the shadows, I can manage to make out a cigarette between his fingers and a frown frozen on his face.

“I hope you know that cigarettes’ll kill you,” I say, biting on the inside of my cheek as I approach him. He sighs and exhales a puff of smoke before dropping his cigarette butt to the ground, stepping on it as he starts to walk away from me. “Hey!” I say. “Hey- Jean!”

“ _What?”_ he hisses, staring at me. I feel my stomach drop and I’m suddenly at a loss of words.

“I- I just…” I stammer, trying to get my thoughts straight. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m… I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, and the sky’s blue, but that doesn’t really change the state of things.”

“But I really _am_ sorry,” I say quietly. “And… and I don’t know how to prove that to you.”

Jean draws another cigarette from his pocket and lights it between his lips, going back to leaning against the building. _Number four: he looks ~~attractive as hell~~ like a real asshole with a cancer stick in his ~~absolutely perfect~~ mouth. _ “Sometimes you have to realize that ‘sorry’ doesn’t always cut it,” he glares.

“Why are you even this upset?” I ask. “I- I just really don’t understand. _You’re_ the one who made _me_ upset with that shitty mom joke.”

“You smashed me into the ground when you could’ve just yelled at me,” he says. “And it’s really hard to move my shoulder now. And besides, I know you hate me more than anything.” He sighs and asks, “God fucking _damn_ it, Eren, why? Why do you hate me so fucking much?”

 _I’m sorry,_ I think to myself. _I’m sorry sorry sorry sorry I’m an idiot and I hate myself more than I could ever hate you ~~because I care about you so much and I actually like you~~ and I’m sorry that I can never prove that to you._

But that’s not what comes out of my mouth. Instead, I word-vomit, “Because you’re arrogant and ignorant and your jokes about my mom make me want to cry half the time. But you’re still hot shit and you just _know_ it and that bugs me to fucking death. You’re better than I’ll ever be and I hate you. I’ve hated you with a burning passion since freshman year. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, but I hate you the most because I care about you and that hurts more than anything.”

Jean blinks slowly as he processes all of what I say before asking, “You… care about me?”

“Yeah,” I mumble. “I… more than you know, really.”

“Then… why do you fight with me so much?”

“I don’t know,” I say. “I don’t know. I guess it’s like that whole masking-my-feelings thing. I don’t fucking know, Jean.” I look down and slump my shoulders, my face on fire. “And I’m always jealous of Mikasa because… well, you _like_ her. And you like talking to her nicely. And Jesus, you’ve gotta be straight as a board. And I… I just… I–“

“Do you like me, Eren?” Jean asks, raising an eyebrow.

“ _What?”_ I say, a little too loudly for my own good. “I mean, I- I- you’re cool, and I- I don’t _dis_ like you, but–“

“It’s fine,” he says. “I get it.”

I pause before I cautiously ask, “But… if I _did,_ you know… _like_ you… What would you… think of that?”

Jean shrugs. “I don’t know,” he replies. “You don’t, so I don’t see why it’s important.”

“But… what if I _did?”_

“And you said that you don’t.” Jean runs a hand through his hair and uses the other to tap ash off the end of the cigarette still between his fingers. “But, if you really need to know that bad… I wouldn’t really care, honestly.”

“Bullshit,” I mumble. “That’s bullshit. You’re only saying that to protect your little ‘hi, I’m Jean and I don’t have a heart’ persona. Now, look me in the eye and tell me you’d hate me if I liked you! Do it!”

“I can’t,” he says with yet another smoky exhale. “I can’t do that.”

“And why is that?”

“Because,” he sighs. “Because I hate you for a lot of things, Eren, but I could never hate you for liking me.”

I bite my lip and think quietly to myself for a moment before saying, “You know what makes me hate you absolutely the most, though?” Jean raises his eyebrows mid-inhale and he studies my face, waiting for me to go on. “Well, the thing is, I… I _don’t_ really hate you.” I take a large step forward and put a gentle hand on his arm. “Not at all.”

I press my lips to his and think of everything that he’s ever done to piss me off. I taste the nicotine on his lips and breath and I suddenly want more, because this taste is just _Jean_ and I’m intoxicated by it.

Once I pull away, I look at him expectedly and hold my breath. “Well,” he says, “I definitely do _not_ hate you.”

_Number five: that cocky little smirk he gives when he’s hiding the fact that he likes something._

And god, do I hate that.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://spookymileskane.tumblr.com) / [instagram](http://instagr.am/and.a.smile)


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